Organisers of dahi handi competitions during Janmashtami celebrations in the state capital this year have decided to bar youths below 18 years from taking part in the ritual and cap the height of the human pyramid at 20 feet in keeping with a recent Supreme Court direction.

Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, will be celebrated on August 25.

President of Shree Krishna Janmotsava Samiti Sanjay Seth said they would strictly adhere to the Supreme Court's order this time. "As we will not allow participants below 18 years and restrict the height of the human pyramid, time given to each team to break the handi will be also reduced to five minutes. Earlier, it was 10 minutes. So far, five teams of men and one comprising women have approached us, expressing their desire to participate in the competition," Seth said.

While the main dahi handi event will be held at Albert Ekka Chowk in the heart of the city, there will be several other programmes.

"We have organised a Bhajan Sandhya, where Manoj Tiwari will present songs dedicated to Lord Krishna. Apart from this, we are also calling a team from Haryana to present Krishna Leela. Singers from Kanpur, Punjab and Delhi will take part in the programme," said Seth, also chairman of Jharkhand Khadi and Village Industries Board.

Rajesh Gupta, who heads Ranchi Janmashtami Samiti, said they would also go by the apex court's guidelines. Ranchi Janmashtami Samiti is gearing up to host dahi handi competition for the first time at Morabadi grounds.

"We respect the Supreme Court order and will not allow any youth below 18 years of age to participate in the celebrations. The human pyramid will also not exceed 20 feet," Gupta, a martial arts expert and former councillor of Ranchi Municipal Corporation, said.

Ranchi Janmashtami Samiti will organise a two-day programme on the occasion of Janmashtami. "On August 24, we will host a fancy dress for children in the age group of 1 to 12 years and painting competition for those aged between 12 and 18 years. The next day, that is August 25, the dahi handi competition will be held. We are yet to decide how much time will be given to each participating team. A team from Vrindavan is also coming to present Krishna's Rash Leela the same day," Gupta said.

Dahi handi celebrations are a huge affair in Maharashtra on Janmashtami. The festival, based on the legend of the child Krishna stealing butter, involves breaking a buttermilk-filled earthen pot tied at a convenient height. A lot of children take part in the ritual as they can easily form the human pyramids. A participant in the festival is called a Govinda.

But frequent fatal mishaps prompted the Bombay High Court to ban youths below 18 years from taking part in the competitions that entail cash prizes for the winning teams besides limiting the height of the human pyramids.

However, this was challenged in the Supreme Court, which on August 17 refused to relax the conditions set by Bombay High Court.

In Ranchi, such competitions are being organised for the past five years.